Behance Mobile App Creator Thumb Labs Joins Adobe

Mobile app provider Thumb Labs has announced it's been acquired by Adobe, a move that the company hints is connected to its continued relationship with the Behance application.

Acquiring the Creator of Behance

Founded in 2009, Thumb Labs is a start-up company which has worked on designing a variety of apps for iOS and Android devices, including ReadyforZero, a debt management tool; txt-book, an IM conversation PDF convertor and Behance, an online portfolio and creative project sharing app that was bought by Adobe in December.

In a statement on its website announcing the acquisition, Rich Kern and Jared Verdi, co-founders of Thumb Labs, said that despite Adobe buying Behance last year the company has maintained a close working relationship with the app by assisting with the creation of Behance v2 and the Behance Creative Portfolio, which is why Thumb Labs has decided to accept an offer to join the Adobe team.

The Behance Creative Portfolio app

Along with this, the statement also mentioned that this new partnership gives them and their staff the chance to work with an ever expanding company.

Like many working in the tech industry, we have come to rely on Adobe products on a daily basis and have closely followed their evolution throughout the years,” they wrote, "We are looking forward to contributing to these efforts, as Behance's vibrant community becomes more deeply integrated into Adobe's tools.”

Specific details, such as financial term of the acquisition or projects the Thumb Labs team will be working on haven’t been released, only that the Thumb Lab’s staff “will begin focusing our mobile talents on a united mission to empower the creative world.”

A Creative Cloud Connection

While both companies are being pretty quiet on details of the acquisition, many sources are reporting that this news is also connected to Adobe’s move from traditional software to a cloud-based model by releasing the Creative Cloud and making the Creative Suite a SaaS. According to reports, in acquiring Thumb Labs, and not just its products like Behance, the app design company will be able to improve the Creative Cloud's toolset.

Behance (and Thumb Labs) represent Adobe’s best attempt to be social and give designers and developers more and better tools for showcasing their work,” said Jolie O’Dell of Venture Beat.

A major part of the Creative Cloud platform is a social layer that allows customers to share their portfolios online, “ he said. “Adobe acquired social platform designers Behance in December as part of its efforts to make its cloud service "the ultimate hub for creatives worldwide."

Thumb Labs notes that all of its outstanding obligations will be fulfilled, but after this they will no longer be offering any services.

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